in the Commons, Tory MPs erupted with anger at Gapes and the foreign secretary backed up his colleagues.

He fumed: “I do find it distasteful to make comparisons between the elected leader of a great democracy and 1930s tyrants. I think it is inappropriate.”

But as Johnson complained about inappropriate World War II comparisons, Labour sources were quick to point out that the top Tory has himself made the odd inappropriate World War II comparisons.

Johnson was widely criticised in the EU referendum campaign after he claimed the EU has the same goal as Hitler. More recently, he appeared to implicitly compare the French president Francois Hollande to a Nazi.

Also in the Commons today, Labour’sDennis Skinner recalled hiding under the stairs as Hitler and Mussolini were bombing Britain.

He added: “Now this government is hand-in-hand with another fascist, Trump. Do the decent thing and ban the visit! This man is not fit to walk in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela!”